(509) 750-7587
As promised here is the fourth-ranked trend of the thousands. Written by Brian Summerfield, Online Editor of Realtor Magazine.
#4: The Practitioner Explosion
Most of you are well aware of how crowded this industry has gotten over the past few years. The boom in real estate at the beginning of the 21st century was perceived as something like the Gold Rush of the late 1840s—an ostensibly free-for-all environment that held out the promise of prosperity to anyone who pursued a career in this area.
One incredible indicator of how much the industry grew was NAR’s own membership. Around the start of the ‘00s, NAR had nearly 800,000 members; at its peak during this decade, it had approximately 1.3 million, an increase of well over 50 percent. (It currently has around 1.1 million members, which is still significantly higher than its membership at the start of the decade.)
Observers offered several explanations as to why this was the case. A couple of these revolved around demographics: Some said professionals switched to real estate mid-career because of a lack of fulfillment or job security in their previous roles. Others explained that Generations X and Y were attracted to real estate because of the apparent freedom and flexibility it offered. While these may be partially correct, I’m more inclined to think that they were following the money (and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that).
Rather than offer my own opinion as to whether this trend is ultimately beneficial or detrimental to the industry—because, frankly, I’m not entirely sure—I’d like to get your perspectives on this. Have you seen a significant increase in colleagues and competitors? Do you think this has helped or hurt real estate?”
Watch for the blog on the fifth-ranked trend of the real estate market for the decade!
